Gaining Height - WARRIOR CATS

Chapter 7

You're the one that's super rude.

Hawk widened her eyes in surprise when another she-cat spoke up. She had seen this cat before, when she had nearly been captured and taken hostage.

"Let's at least be polite and share a bit about ourselves, Icepaw," the she-cat who Hawk remembered as Smokepaw meowed. She eyed the pale grey she-cat. "After all, surely you are good at polite discussions with potential allies, your mentor being deputy and all."

Icepaw let out a dramatic sigh as she glanced at Smokepaw. "I guess so," she meowed. Then she switched her keen gaze right back to Hawk. "We're FalconClan's apprentices," she announced with visible pride. "I'm Icepaw. I'm Duskfang's apprentice, and the best apprentice of all time."

Icepaw puffed out her chest, and fanned out her wings elegantly. She eyed Hawk with that same confidence that Duskfang had. Then, Hawkpaw glanced at Smokepaw as she opened her jaws.

"Firstly, you're not the best," Smokepaw retorted. "Anyways, I'm Smokepaw. I like surprises, voles, and these cats who I'd consider my friends. I despise rogues, and AquaClan and CometClan cats."

The next cat, a black tom, was about to open her jaws, but Hawk switched her gaze back to Smokepaw.

"What's AquaClan and CometClan?"

Icepaw let out a loud huff. "She knows nothing!" The she-cat sighed, letting out a huff of annoyance.

Smokepaw didn't meet Hawk's gaze when responding. Hawk wondered if it was because of how she had said she despised rogues. "They're our rival clans, Hawk," she explained. "CometClan cats can run extremely fast and are super agile. Some of them even leave trails of colour behind them, being so fast. They're all quite snappy and easily offended."

Smokepaw put her paw in the snow, and began drawing something. Hawk eyed it with interest. "That's the clan symbol," Smokepaw responded, still not meeting Hawk's gaze. She drew her paw back quickly when Hawk padded closer to eye the symbol.

"Then, there's AquaClan," Smokepaw went on. "A strange bunch. They all have fluorescent parts in their fur, can breathe underwater, and have a powerful build." Smokepaw let out a gusty sigh, showing Hawk the AquaClan symbol. "We've been at war for as long as any cat can remember."

"Interesting," Hawk muttered under her breath.

Now, the black tom turned to face her. He was the shortest out of all the cats, with bright green eyes and wings. There was a certain ferocity in the glare he gave Hawk that made her uneasy.

"I'm Coalpaw."

Smokepaw glanced at him. "Don't you want to say anything more," she muttered under her breath. "I managed to." Smokepaw turned to face Hawk. "Coal's my littermate, by the way. And if you harm a whisker on his pelt..."

A white tom pushed himself in front of Smokepaw, and brushed his tail over her face to silence her threat. He shot her an apologetic look when she glared at him.

Hawk narrowed her eyes curiously. He was the only cat that hadn't spoken yet. She tilted her head to one side. Was he also too furious about her existing to talk? Oddly enough, this cat was the only one who had a glimmer of kindness in his eyes.

"Can I?" Smokepaw turned to face the tom, and he nodded. "This is Snowpaw," Smokepaw meowed. "I know our names sound pretty close right now, but I'm sure we'll have totally unique warrior names!"

Snowpaw fanned out his wings and grinned at Hawk. He was easily the biggest cat out of the rest of them, and his white wings, which matched his pelt colour, were massive.

"Snowpaw can't speak," Smokepaw put in. "But that doesn't make him any weaker than the rest of us."

Snowpaw nodded to Hawk politely. His eyes shared as much emotion as if he were talking to her. I'm sorry, they seemed to say. He blinked at all his denmates kindly and turned to her. Again, his eyes told Hawk his thoughts. They're not usually like this. They're usually a really friendly bunch.